We must stop cuts to food assistance in Trump's budget

William Lambers of Delhi Township is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger. He is also a member of the Feeding America Blogger Council.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive in May. Your donations helped the Freestore Foodbank, which is on the front lines of fighting hunger in the Tristate area.

A recent Bread for the World study said Ohio is the 5th hungriest state in the country. With your donations, you have responded to the hunger crisis in our state.

But now elected officials must also respond by resisting the Trump administration's plans for major cuts to food assistance, including the food stamp program (SNAP).

Poor families use their monthly SNAP benefits, in the form of an electronic card, to get some extra purchasing power at grocery stores. Food stamps have been a historically successful program and were used as far back as World War II to help the poor through difficult times.

The hungry in America need SNAP, as well as pantries, in order to keep food on the table.

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The Healing Center, a non-profit agency that helps people in need from food to clothing to job services, has seen a rise in people using their pantry with the recent food stamp cuts.

Diana Aviv, the CEO of Feeding America, said in a statement that SNAP is the "cornerstone of our nation's assurance that no one should go hungry. The president's proposed massive cuts to SNAP break that assurance; a devastating departure from our country's longstanding and bipartisan commitment to staving off hunger."

If the cuts take place, the poor will have even fewer resources to buy food.

Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, the director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said in a statement that in our state "more than 84 percent of all SNAP participants are children, seniors or people living with disabilities.

Hamler-Fugitt pleads: "What happens to these households, who already live on the brink when they lose 25 percent of their SNAP benefits?"

When food stamps are cut, it puts enormous pressure on food banks to make up the difference.

According to Aviv, "Without any doubt, our network of 200 food banks will not be able to fill in the gap created by the cuts proposed in this budget."

Cutting food aid programs does not make hunger disappear. It does not help the individual who struggles to find a good-paying job with enough hours. He or she needs the help of SNAP to get by. A family dealing with illness and strained resources needs SNAP and other food programs.

Under the Trump budget, this support would be drastically reduced. But an elected official who cuts the program would not see that impact personally.

In the case of the proposed SNAP cuts, it is small businesses that will feel the impact. Grocers who redeem the food stamps will lose sales, and for some small stores, this could be devastating.

We must stop the cuts to food assistance in the president's budget. Both political parties must be proactive in finding solutions to eliminate hunger.

Another glaring need is present right before us: the child summer hunger crisis. That is because the free school lunch safety net for impoverished children is lost when the academic year ends.

Summer feeding sites and distribution programs are set up, but so much more is needed to reach all the children who get free lunches during the school year. Jessica Shelly, the Cincinnati Public Schools food services director, says the large drop in meals served during summer is "heart-wrenching.” Shelly says they need more places willing to host summer feeding sites.

The advocacy group, No Kid Hungry, notes that budget cuts planned by Trump also include 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which support afterschool and summer meal programs.

We need to be increasing these feeding programs to make sure no child goes hungry. Ohio's senators, Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Rob Portman, co-sponsored the Hunger Free Summer For Kids Act. This would allow for the families of needy children to get an electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card to purchase food over the summer months.

Christian Easton, right, of Shively, buys chicken from farmer Anwar Barbour on her trip to pick up fresh fruit and vegetables at the Shawnee Neighborhood Fresh Stop, held at Redeemer Lutheran Church . She has relied on food stamps for several months while her husband was laid off. An AmeriCorps volunteer, Easton, 29, said, “My husband has found a job now. We will be getting off food stamps very soon.”(Photo: Angela Shoemaker/Special to the C-J)

But the legislation, which was made part of the Child Nutrition Reauthorization, was not able to pass Congress.

On a limited scale, the summer EBT card has shown good results with pilot projects around the country, including in Virginia, which just received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe of Virginia says, "The continuation of the Summer EBT pilot will provide families with much-needed relief and demonstrate that new, innovative programs can move us toward ending childhood hunger once and for all."

Funding for Summer EBT demonstration projects was supported by President Barack Obama and also in President Donald Trump's proposed FY18 budget. We must continue progress toward a national summer-feeding program using EBT and establishing more summer feeding sites.

Everyone should be able to unite in supporting these programs with the goal of ending hunger.

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